A robber who was trapped by fingerprint evidence six years after a terrifying raid on a Sheppey home has been jailed for seven years.

Marvyn King was part of a masked gang that burst into businessman Derek Archibald's home in Penny Cress Road, Minster, and stole cash and property - including a Rolex watch - totalling about £20,000.

King, from Rochford, Essex, denied two robbery offences but was convicted by a jury by a 10-2 majority after deliberating for more than five hours.

Mr Archibald was in the kitchen with Simon Lywood on the evening of July 14, 2006 when four men barged through the unlocked door.

Another friend, Andrew Southgate, had gone to get a takeaway.

"The two men were held at knifepoint and there was an instant demand for money," Trevor Wright, prosecuting, told Maidstone Crown Court. "Mr Archibald had some money in a small safe and some in a jar collecting 20p pieces."

Two members of the gang went upstairs and ransacked rooms. Mr Southgate returned and was also held in the kitchen and robbed of a mobile phone and money.

After the four men left, the police were called and crime scene investigators took impressions of fingerprints.

"one got really brave and pulled his mask off and said he didn't care...” – victim derek archibald

Prints left on a stereo system, a cashbox on the landing and a rucksack in a polythene bag were not matched to King until May this year.

Mr Archibald, who runs a car wash in London, told the jury: "We were held at knifepoint by two men. One was in my throat, one was in my back. The other men were upstairs.

"They were asking: 'Where's the money?' They were slapping me about a bit. I kept saying: 'There is no money.' They started searching cupboards. They didn't find anything.

"Someone had told them my safe was behind a cupboard under the stairs. One of them was feeling for the key. They would not have known that if they hadn't been told.

"I was slapped about and threatened. It made me feel angry. It lasted about half-an-hour. They took us upstairs and made us get into the loft.

"One got really brave and pulled his mask off and said he didn't care."

Mr Archibald added: "Simon Lywood was in bits. He was shaking at a million miles an hour. He was proper stressing out."

Mervyn King was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said the jury had found King, 31, guilty on compelling circumstantial evidence.

"I make it clear I do not treat you as the principal offender and I do not, therefore, deal with you on the basis you were one of the men who wielded a knife," he said.

"I deal with you on the basis you were part of a joint enterprise in which knives were indeed wielded. Mr Archibald and his home were deliberately targeted. There was a significant degree of planning."

The judge said he would not "slavishly" follow sentencing guidelines.

"On any view this was a very serious offence indeed," he said. "This was an appalling offence. It must have involved a very traumatic experience for the victims. A significant sentence must follow."